Chapter Nineteen: The Plot Thickens 谋划变厚
"All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever present perils of life." –Herman Melville, Moby Dick
It was the end of October and the days were growing increasingly cooler. The holiday season was coming up and I couldn't help but be curious as to what holidays Japan celebrated. When I asked Ryou he said, "So many that I've just stopped counting. Now go away."
I was sitting in Homeroom, being bored to death, as usual. The teacher strolled up to the front of the class with a thick stack of papers in her arms. Oh joy. A quiz.
"Okay guys! As many of you know, our school is hosting a Culture Festival for Bunka No Hi. I'm going to pass out these packets to you guys. If you're interested in helping out with the festival, just fill out the form at the back; just follow the directions. Also, if you want to make your own booth, that's perfectly fine, but make sure you run it by me before you do anything." She announced. Bunka no wha-? The teacher passed back the packets; I fingered mine as if it were a dead rat.
Takara came up to me after homeroom jabbering away about what kind of booth she wanted to make. Something about the history of the bonsai tree…
"What are you going to do for the festival?" she asked.
"Nothing. I'm going to be at home playing my guitar and eating junk food." I replied. I've got so much to deal with that I can't even do that anymore, with all this alien business.
"But, Komori! It would give you such a good insight into Japanese traditions!" she whined.
"Look at me, Takara. Do I look Japanese?"
"Well…no. But you really shouldn't be missing out on this great cultural experience!"
"Fine! I'll go but that's it. No dressing up in kimonos or dancing Kabuki." I said.
"Actually, men usually dance Kabuki." She informed me.
"Whatever."
I wasn't all too sure why I was being so stubborn on the subject; I didn't like being mean to Takara, but I had so much stuff on my mind that it was hard not to. Takara looked a little hurt and got the clue that I didn't want to talk to her.
"I'll see you later Komori." She murmured and continued down the hall. Great, now she's mad at me.
I got my junk out of my locker and hastily stuffed it all inside my backpack, provoking a 'TWURCK!' from Masha. "Sorry, Masha." I grumbled and headed down the hallway to after-school fencing practice on the front lawn. The rest of the team was suiting up by the time I emerged from the double-doors. I slipped on my helmet as I jogged down the steps to join them.
"Well, nice of you to join us Komori." The coach sneered. He never was that fond of me; probably because I was a girl or some stupid little reason like that.
I gave him a look of utmost hatred (I was wearing my helmet, so it didn't really make much of a difference) before joining the swarm of white helmets. Kiyoshi was standing at the back; I stood next to him. You could say that we were 'officially' going out, but it really was the same as 'dating'. Nothing special. Nothing new.
"Hey, Komori." He said vaguely.
"Hey. What drills are we doing today?" I asked.
"Time attack." He responded.
"That's all?"
"Yeah, he wants to make some sort of announcement about that festival." He yawned. Oh yay.
"You seem pretty tired, Kiyoshi. How much sleep did you get?" I asked.
"None." He yawned. Before we could continue our meaningless conversation, the coach stood up and shouted, "Come on, guys! Time attack!" He clapped his hands; our signal to find a partner. The objective of Time Attack was to see who could hit their opponent the most in ten minutes. Naturally, Kiyoshi and I paired up together.
We both stood at ready with our lances held out to each other. "GO!" the coach yelled.
We dove at each other, slashing out with our swords. SLAP! Kiyoshi's lance found its mark on my shoulder. I plunged my lance towards his chest in one fluid motion; he staggered. I twirled my lance in my hand as Kiyoshi regained his footing. We continued at it, Kiyoshi scoring three more hits, and I two. At the end of the drill everyone was tired and breathless.
"Okay, guys! Good job, good job! Come over here and sit down." The coach called. We huddled together into a mass of sweat and panting.
"I've decided that this year we're going to set up a booth for the Culture Festival!" he announced. We stared at him as if he had just said he was the Queen of Switzerland.
"Um, coach… Fencing isn't really a Japanese culture. Now, if we were the kendo club it would be different--." One boy started.
"It's a culture if I say so! We're doing a booth on it and I need volunteers to work it and give 'live performances'!" the coach bellowed. Lame, lame, lame.
"Kiyoshi, I'm absolutely requiring your presence there, and his battle partner will be……Komori!" the coach decided off the top of his head.
"WHA--?" I wailed. Kiyoshi seemed slightly amused.
"No buts, both of you are going to show up. Now, I'll need some people to put it together and run it…Hm? No one wants to volunteer? Okay, then, Botan, Haruko, thank you for generously volunteering." The coach continued. Great, now I have to go to that stupid festival…
Kiyoshi came up to me when the coach had dismissed us with a wave of his hand.
"This is going to be awesome, Komori!" he said happily.
"Yeah…awesome." I grumbled. He noticed my blatant unenthusiasm.
"What? You don't want to be in the festival?" he asked, sounding slightly hurt, thinking that if was his fault for how I felt.
"No, not really. It's nothing that anyone's done; I've just got a lot of crap to deal with lately." I said, pulling my hand through my hair.
"Anything I can help with?" he asked, putting his arm around my shoulder as we continued to walk. Well, you could actually kick some alien butt with those fencing moves of yours…
"No." I replied, leaning my head on his shoulder. As we neared the parking lot, I remembered that Ryou could be in the limo, and wouldn't appreciate seeing Kiyoshi's arm around my shoulder.
"Oh, there's my ride. I'll see you later, Kiyoshi!" I said, pulling his arm off my shoulders and trotted towards the limo. Kiyoshi had a confused look on his face, but let me run towards the car.
Why did I do that?
I opened the door without looking back at Kiyoshi, feeling a little ashamed that I had run away like I did. Ryou waited inside, looking out the window at Kiyoshi, who had turned around and started walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.
"What was that all about?" Ryou asked.
"What was what?" I asked innocently.
"As soon as you saw the limo you just shoved Kinnoshi off of you." Ryou said.
"His name's Kiyoshi. And so what?"
"His name won't matter in a few years anyways. It just looked kind of funny …Like you didn't want me to see you two together." Ryou said, eyeing me suspiciously.
"I didn't want to get the 'What are you hanging out with him for?' speech." I said. The limo started up and steered out of the school towards home.
"Is that what that was? Komori, I'm just trying to give you a hard time. It's just that I worry about you. Trust me, I don't like the change either; it makes me feel old." Ryou explained.
"Still…Could you lay off just a little?" I asked.
"No prob." He winked and gave me a thumbs up.
I was now busier than ever with the preparations for the stupid festival. All the different clubs were setting up booths: The Kabuki Club (that would be pretty funny to watch...), Kendo (bleh), and all sorts of other obscure clubs that no one had heard of such as the 'Japanese Story-Telling Club'. I felt pretty sorry for Botan and Haruko, who were in charge of setting up our booth and running it. So far they had gotten as far as constructing a booth and painting it a vibrant red. "The sign of courage," Botan had told me. They had also managed to build a rickety platform where Kiyoshi and I were supposed to duel. But it looked like if you so much as stepped on it, it would collapse and be nothing more than a pile of wood with a few nails clinging to it. We had approximately five days until the festival, which was on November 3, to perfect all the details.
Surprisingly, no alien alerts had popped up, giving me ample time to just be…normal. I spent most of my time on that festival, but also a lot with Kiyoshi and Takara.
"Where are you going again?" Ryou asked me one day as I called him, telling him that I'd be late.
"Setting up our booth for the festival. I've been doing that for the past few days and I tell you the same thing EVERY day." I grumbled, rubbing my temples in frustration. Ryou could be so dense sometimes.
"Right, Right. Have fun" Ryou said and hung up. Whatever. Tomorrow's that festival and we don't have anything worth setting up at all. This is gonna suck.
Our booth was being set up in the cafeteria, where there was room to set up a stage for us to fence. When I walked in, Botan, Haruko, and Kiyoshi were hard at work nailing together the stage, trying to get it to stay in one piece. Kiyoshi looked up at me and waved at me with his hammer.
"Hey, Komori. Just finishing up the goddamn stage." Kiyoshi greeted, kneeling back down to continue his work.
"It looks like it's coming along quite …nicely. When do you think it'll be done?" I asked, inspecting their craftsmanship.
"We're staying until it's done. Feel free to join in." Haruko said as he motioned over to a hammer and a stack of nails. Nothing better to do…
I sat next to Kiyoshi with my hammer and several nails clasped between my lips. The stage was roughly the size of a small living room. About half of it was already fixed, but still slightly rickety. I can't believe they expect us to actually walk around on this thing…
I started to hammer, joining in with the steady clacking of the boys. As I laid down a nail, I didn't move my finger quite fast enough, slamming the hammer with full force onto it. I emitted a large yowl, holding my thumb in pain. Haruko and Botan took a break from their hammering long enough to roll on the ground in hysterical laughter. Kiyoshi looked over at me and pulled my hand towards him to examine.
"Ouch. I'm betting that hurt." Kiyoshi said as he looked over my throbbing finger.
"No. I shrieked because it felt good." I said sarcastically.
"Heh. Well, just apply pressure to it and it'll eventually quit. Oh, and don't hammer your finger. Not good." Kiyoshi said, wagging his finger as if scolding a naughty child.
Botan and Haruko had gotten over their convulsive laughter and had begun to hammer away at the stage again. "Yeah, Yeah." I muttered.
We worked on the stage for another hour until we all deemed it worthy of being called a stage…okay, platform would have been a better description. Or maybe 'a mass jumble of nails and wood thrown together'. Yeah, more like that.
"Oh, Komori! We finally finished the booth!" Haruko said as he led me towards what was probably our booth covered with an old white bedsheet.
Botan removed the sheet to reveal a booth slightly taller than himself; it was painted red with the words "The Fencing Team" printed on the top in black. It was built far better than the stage was; it didn't wobble uncontrollably when you so much as poked it.
"Hm. Nice job." I murmured, not caring one way or the other. Kiyoshi glanced at his wristwatch.
"Ugh. It's already six…I say we hit the sack and worry about everything tomorrow." Kiyoshi yawned.
"Amen." Botan said, covering the booth back up.
Below Earth… 在地球下面
Resu approached Ronin with a grin on his face.
"What do you want?" Ronin sighed angrily. He's such an annoying little twit…
"I have excellent news, Master!" Resu stated, his eyes gleaming mischievously.
"You've caught a deadly disease and are dying a slow, painful death?" Ronin asked blandly.
"Not quite, Master. I have discovered the identity of this Mew girl. And I also have a fool-proof plan to get rid of her. Of course, I will have to employ the help of a few friends…" Resu explained. Ronin's interest was piqued.
"I like what I hear. Continue."
"There is a large celebration going on at her … 'school' I think it was called, that is a tribute to their culture."
"And--?" Ronin asked, growing weary of Resu's frequent pauses when he babbled.
"Much of their culture consists of monsters. And many of the humans are dressing up as these monsters, which would make it awfully difficult to spot a real one. Such as a tengu, perhaps…" Resu continued. A smile spread across Ronin's pale face, showing off his abnormally long canines as he finally understood what Resu meant.
"I must give you praise for extracting such an excellent idea from your benumbed mind, Resu. Make the proper arrangements." Ronin commanded.
November Third, The Culture Festival 11 月 3 日,文化节日
The Festival was held during school to increase the likelihood of student attendance. "Visitors of any sort were welcome to join the festivities!" as our principal had said yesterday. Flyers had even been handed out all over town. I had arrived at school early to aid Kiyoshi, Botan, and Haruko in setting up the booth. I'm going to pretend to be sick the next time we have a festival of any sort.
I was fully clad in my fencing outfit, evoking some confused stares from a lot of the students and a few members of the faculty. Thankfully, the stage was just as we had left it last night, in one piece. The booth was also holding together quite nicely.
"This is so stupid." I muttered to myself when I noticed all the other booths that were set up in the cafeteria, which were all the space-consuming ones. The Japanese Storytelling Club was set up directly across from where we had placed our platform. People were scurrying to and fro, a few dressed as monsters and many wrapped up in elegant kimonos. Oh, they act out stories…like a play. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and I turned around to see Kiyoshi.
"Hm? Oh, hey, Kiyoshi!" I said pleasantly.
"Hey. Are you ready for our 'battle'?" he asked pleasantly.
"I guess so. I just want to get this whole thing over with." I sighed.
"It'll be a lot more exciting than you think." Kiyoshi said with a hinting tone as he put his arm around my shoulders. It stirred up all the guilt and embarrassment I had felt when I had run away from him.
"I guess." I muttered.
Botan and Haruko jogged up to us.
"Hey, guys. Everything's set up and ready to go! Now I guess we just wait for the crowds, eh?" Botan said.
"Gonna be a boring day. But I guess it's better than having class all day…" Haruko said thoughtfully.
"Mm." I murmured in agreement. Meanwhile the Storytelling people were taking their places to begin a short run-through of the story they were telling.
A boy dressed in a stunning crow-like outfit flapped his way onto the stage, delivering his monologue about his plan to go to the local human palace to kill the king and to take the beautiful queen as his bride. The story ended tragically, as the king had found out about the tengu's (that was the name of the creature) plan and had the beast slaughtered.
Well that was completely pointless. Kiyoshi, Haruko, and Botan had been watching the play along with me as we waited for the festival to begin.
"That guy's costume was so good! He could have passed as a real tengu!" Botan exclaimed.
"Yeah, imagine how long it took to make it." I said.
"It was a little too realistic, if you ask me." Kiyoshi muttered.
"What? It's not like you've ever seen a tengu, Kiyoshi. Just go with it." Haruko said.
Kiyoshi snarled. "Maybe I have seen one." He retorted.
Before we could ask what Kiyoshi had been smoking, a flood of people swept into the cafeteria; our signal to shut up and get to the booth. Kiyoshi and I slid on our helmets, got our lances, and took our positions on the platform. I was afraid that I was going to lose my balance on the platform, which violently rocked every time I took a step.
"Ladies and Gents! Step over here to get a sublime sample of true strength, cunning, and grace from these two talented members of the Fencing Team!" Haruko yelled out over the heads of the crowd. His excellent word usage was probably the catch that caught everyone's eye. Kiyoshi and I stood at ready, waiting for Botan to give us the signal to begin our fight.
When Botan thought a large enough crowd had gathered, he chimed a small series of bells and yelled, "GO!"
Kiyoshi leapt forward, his lance just nearly missing my midriff. I stepped back and tensed my muscles for a spring when Kiyoshi's lance clanged against my shoulder. I used the pent-up energy in my legs to propel myself at him. I'm going to give this my all.
That seemed to be what Kiyoshi was thinking, too, as he lunged at me at the same time. We met up with each other, our lances preventing either from advancing. I tried sliding mine down his lance to get released, but he wouldn't allow it.
Only one way out of this one…
I tensed my legs a final time and sprung away from Kiyoshi; my balance got weird and made me turn backwards, a variable I hadn't thought of. A ripple of excited gasps swept through the crowd. I landed with my lance in the air by my ear, pointed at Kiyoshi. He stood there for a minute, taking in what he had saw and ran at me with full speed with his lance aimed at my shoulder. I let his own momentum be his downfall: As he ran at me I swung around and managed to land two hits on his shoulder. My satisfaction served as a distraction that Kiyoshi used to his full advantage, slapping me in the back with the side of his lance. I fell onto the platform in defeat. The crowd gave a loud roar of applause as Kiyoshi helped me up.
"Are you okay?" he asked as we both bowed to the audience.
"Yeah, fine." I said breathlessly. We stepped down from the platform for a short breather before beginning our next sequence.
"That back flip was a piece of art, Komori." Haruko congratulated.
"I almost thought that I was going to get beaten by a girl." Kiyoshi winked.
"Oh, ha ha." I muttered.
The Storytelling Club began to run their play again for the audience. The tengu appeared on the stage, but looked much different than before. The costume was much more…realistic. Must've given it some touch-ups. It looks pretty good… The tengu's mischievous orange eyes darted about the audience as it began its monologue.
"For many moons now I have had my eye on the gorgeous Queen Lida, but she has long since been betrothed to the King Oriel. But, hey. Who needs a queen when you have a Mew to hunt down? …One that, in fact, sits in this very room." The tengu crooned. My eyes widened. That tengu knew about Mews, and what's worse, he knew I was here! Curious whispering drifted up from the audience. The tengu stood tall, stretching out its massive wings.
"Come, now, little Mew. Reveal yourself……Refuse, eh? Then I suppose that I shall have to go through every one of these humans until I find you!" the tengu announced as it jumped into the audience. Once again I witnessed the scene of pandemonium that seemed to be happening more and more often: people screaming, things being broken. People darted this way and that, trying to get out of the cafeteria. I peered to my side to see that Kiyoshi had already run off with the rest of the panicked crowds. I wonder if he knows he forgot me? At any rate, now I can fight that…thing in Mew form.
I scanned the room to assure myself that every person had filed out; they all had. "Mewtemorphosis!" I whispered as I ducked behind the platform.
The tengu's keen hearing picked up my whisper; he was advancing slowly. Wait until he gets closer…
He was only ten feet away from my hiding place at the edge of the platform. Wait for it……
The tengu had set foot on top of the platform, which was now of the brink of collapsing. He stuck out his snakelike tongue out to taste the air for my scent and followed it like a bloodhound. When he was about two feet away from me I lashed out with my lance; he never saw it coming. I shot it through one of his thickly feathered arms as he grabbed me by the throat with his uninjured arm.
"There you are! Ronin will be pleased with me for getting rid of you, little pest!" he laughed as his taloned hand drew in more and more. The scene before me drifted in and out again as I kicked and fought to free myself from his grasp. He squeezed even tighter; I couldn't get any air…everything went dark.
Help……He-
